A Matter of Jurisdiction
Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock have entered into a contract for Kirk to purchase a spaceship for his personal use. Kirk, the buyer, lives in California and Spock’s earth residence is in New York. Spock has agreed to sell the spaceship to Kirk for $175,000. At the last minute, Kirk backed out of the contract claiming that he had been called for a mission by the Federation and decided that another ship would be more suitable. In this situation:
1. Does any court system (federal or state) have exclusive jurisdiction over this case? Concurrent jurisdiction?
a. What happened here?
b. In your own words, explain concurrent and exclusive jurisdiction. What page number(s) in the textbook are those explanations? If you used the internet to find the explanations, provide the URL and explain why you think this is a good source of information.
c. What additional facts would you need to know in order to determine whether Spock could file suit in New York?
d. Apply the definition to reach a conclusion whether any court has exclusive jurisdiction. Apply the definition to reach a conclusion whether any court would have concurrent jurisdiction. Explain how you reached each conclusion.
2. What if this was a case where Spock claimed he’d been deprived of his right to freedom of speech under the U.S. Constitution and that his harm was $20,000. Would a federal court have jurisdiction? Explain.
a. In your own words, explain when a federal court would have jurisdiction. What page number in the textbook is that explanation? If you used the internet to find the explanation, provide the URL and explain why you think this is a good source of information.
• b. Apply the definition to reach a conclusion whether a federal court would have jurisdiction. Explain how you reached each conclusion.